I'm looking for a decent helicopter radio. I fly only pod and boom aerobatic helicopters and I don't see that changing for the foreseeable future so airplane and glider features are useless to me and are likely to remain so. Likewise anything more than 6 channels is basically wasted money as I don't see myself building elaborate scale models with working features any time soon.

So far the radio that has attracted my attention the most is the Hitec Aurora 9, it has more channels than I need but it has a touch screen and has cheap $20 third party RX's available from Hobbyking and Servo City sells it for $289.

What I'm looking for is:

$300 or less.

Good sticks.

Dot matrix display (want graphs for curves not numbers only)

Cheap RX's.

At least 6 channels.

Frequency hopping.

Good out of warranty service (i.e. I don't want something where you don't exist to them once the warranty is up)

I did consider the DX6i but unfortunately there are no cheap DSMX compatible RX's available and I don't want to use DSM2 because of the negative things I've heard about it.

... I did consider the DX6i but unfortunately there are no cheap DSMX compatible RX's available and I don't want to use DSM2 because of the negative things I've heard about it.

If you look there will be negative things for just about every brand out there.

With all the list of wants you provided and if you are considering the A9 then of course you should be considering the DX7s/DX8.

These are also the number one option for one of your WANTS and that is Customer service and warranty, You can't beat HH..

BUT what you should really do is visit LHS or local club or something where you can hold and play with the radios before buying, the best radio is the one that fits great in your hands and you enjoy using.

I've had a DSM2 Dx6i for over 3 years, has worked perfectly with Spectrum DSM2, DSMX and also 3rd party DSM2 rx's. If you're into aerobatic helis it also works very well with the flybarless RX that Spektrum offer, I've got one in a Blade 300x and while I'm no heli hotshot it works really well.

The other option would be the new DMSS JR radios as you can now get cheap 3rd party Rxs for them

If you look there will be negative things for just about every brand out there.

With all the list of wants you provided and if you are considering the A9 then of course you should be considering the DX7s/DX8.

The lack of inexpensive DSMX receivers is a deal breaker. There are DSM2 recievers but I've heard too many things about DSM2 lockouts to trust my models to it.

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Originally Posted by FrankS

I've had a DSM2 Dx6i for over 3 years, has worked perfectly with Spectrum DSM2, DSMX and also 3rd party DSM2 rx's. If you're into aerobatic helis it also works very well with the flybarless RX that Spektrum offer, I've got one in a Blade 300x and while I'm no heli hotshot it works really well.

I can get 2 Robird G31's and 2 third party RX's for the cost of one AR7200BX. And space isn't at a premium inside a 500 or 600 so the benefits of an all in one RX and FBL are minimal there.

Most of my most-precious models are flying with DSM2, in fact some with the very first Spektrum equipment I bought 5 years ago. There is nothing wrong with DSM2.

Do you not feel like you are limiting yourself by only considering 6-channel equipment? As the channel count increases, generally the other features increase as well.

You might like some of the features the DX7s has, like showing real-time head RPM on the throttle curve screen or multiple pitch curves.

Andy

I've heard of too many problems with DSM2 to trust it, especially with a 500 or larger size helicopter than can maim or kill. If there were third party inexpensive DSMX RX's on the market then I would consider a DX6i or DX7 but there are not.

Quote:

Do you not feel like you are limiting yourself by only considering 6-channel equipment? As the channel count increases, generally the other features increase as well.

I'm not just limiting myself to 6 channels, it's just that anything more really isn't necessary.

I've heard of too many problems with DSM2 to trust it, especially with a 500 or larger size helicopter than can maim or kill. If there were third party inexpensive DSMX RX's on the market then I would consider a DX6i or DX7 but there are not.

And I suppose the 100 MPH 40-size models I have are balsa feathers ...

Quote:

I'm not just limiting myself to 6 channels, it's just that anything more really isn't necessary.

OK, it just seems like you're giving up a lot of heli-oriented things that way.

Helicopters aren't cheap, at least decent ones, and the $20 you save by using an off-brand rx just doesn't compute in my head.